


See You Tomorrow

by theundeadsiren (rhoen)



Series: RickRen short fics/drabbles [8]
Category: In the Flesh (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 08:36:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4384964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhoen/pseuds/theundeadsiren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The words are not the first your soulmate will ever say to you, but the last.</p>
            </blockquote>





	See You Tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> [This post](http://aceofultron.tumblr.com/post/115671353860/aceofultron-soulmate-au-where-instead-of-your) inspired this. I often see posts or gifs on my dash and spend a few minutes writing something in my head, but this time I actually wrote it down. I haven't done it justice at all - I've not been very good at writing lately, I'm sorry. It's un-beta'd.

**You may not take this fic and edit or reupload it - in whole or in part - without my express permission. This includes translations.**

If you are reading this anywhere other than my (theundeadsiren) tumblr, AO3 or livejournal, then please [let me know](http://theundeadsiren.tumblr.com/ask/), including a link to where you found it, so I can take steps to have it removed. For a list of people given permission to use parts of my works, please see [here](http://theundeadsiren.tumblr.com/permission).

Thank you for respecting my wishes

* * *

 

The words that appeared just before his eighth birthday, spidering across his lower ribs in a neat scrawl, were so generic Kieren had never given them much thought. He couldn’t really; nearly everyone he knew had said them to him at some point. Sometimes he’d stood there, staring at them and wondering how he was supposed to know who his soulmate was - and if it could be the one person he hoped it was – and wondering why they couldn’t keep their word, but for the most part, he kept them hidden: out of sight, out of mind.

Over the years, he all but forgot about them.

Until that morning. Until the very moment he realised Rick had gone. For good. It didn’t matter if Rick ever came back to Roarton – the two of them would never see each other again.

It was then, belatedly, that Kieren recalled what Rick’s own words - somehow even less helpful than Kieren’s but at least not an already broken promise - and what he'd uttered last night in parting, were - : ‘ _yeah, you too_ ’.

It didn’t matter how much he missed him, how much he hoped and longed for his return, or how many letters he wrote – Rick was never coming back.

The pain of that was somehow just bearable, because there was still hope. Perhaps the world was wrong. Perhaps it had all been a mistake, and perhaps one day Rick would come back and they could have the future together Kieren had always dreamed of – a future away from Roarton. It might have just been a coincidence – those phrases were so common, and they must have said them to each other so many times over the years but they’d still always seen each other again. Rick wasn’t the one. He couldn’t be. They hadn’t even begun their lives together yet.

But when Rick died, that hope did too.

Kieren couldn’t stand the pain of it. He’s lost his best friend. His soulmate. Rick was one person who had always been there for him and had made him feel loved and accepted in a place where he always had been and always would be an outsider. He was the one person who had believed in Kieren and had always encouraged him, no matter what; he was the one person who had trusted Kieren enough to expose himself completely and share his deepest secrets and most closely guarded fears and desires. He couldn’t live without that, or the hope of having it again.

So he didn’t.  He let go of everything, and found that, as the world started fading to black, he found hope again. Perhaps the words were still a promise. Perhaps beyond the fast-encroaching night a new day would dawn – one in which he could be with Rick again.

He could still find him again.

‘ _See you tomorrow_ ’

 


End file.
